Nation offers forensic expertise in envoy's murder probe

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan has expressed its willingness to offer forensic expertise to the Dominican Republic in a bid to hunt down the killer responsible for the murder of a Taiwanese diplomat earlier this year, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday.

During his just-concluded visit to the Central American ally, Foreign Minister David Lin expressed his concern over the probe of the death of Julia Ou (區美珍), who was found murdered in the country this April, Jamie Wu (吳進木), head of MOFA's Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, said yesterday during a news briefing.

Lin told Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina during their meeting last week that Taiwan is more than willing to offer its forensic expertise to the diplomatic ally if it asks for assistance on the case, Wu said.

The 55-year-old Ou, a secretary of the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission, was found slain in her apartment in the Dominican Republic on April 16.

She was found stabbed to death in the bedroom of her apartment, where she lived alone in Santo Domingo, after not showing up for work.

Local authorities have been unable to find the murderer eight months after the incident took place.

Asked about the latest developments in the case, Wu yesterday said that Dominican Republic investigators have interrogated several possible suspects regarding Ou's death, but they have not found enough evidence to narrow down the suspect pool.

"The key to the case lies in DNA evidence but Dominican Republic authorities lack forensic science facilities to conduct such tests," he said.